Why a Watch Winder?
Rapport watch winders are beautiful and valuable pieces of craftsmanship. They make wonderful gifts and collectors' items. Many, however, don't realize how important a watch winder is to keep automatic watches in good condition and ensure the long life of the watch motions.
An automatic watch needs to be either worn or wound by hand regularly or the watch will wind down and stop. Winding by hand and resetting most watches can be accomplished without too much inconvenience but some watches with more complications really are quite difficult to reset once they have wound down.
Watches with screw-down crowns present a specific problem - thread wear. Every time one unscrews the crown to wind and reset the watch additional wear and tear is put on the screw heads as well as any gaskets used to maintain a water-resistant seal.
A good quality winder can also prevent the problem of bad oil distribution when a watch winds down. Mechanical watches use oil to reduce friction in the many moving parts in the watch movement. When the watch is wound and running, the oil is naturally and evenly distributed. When the watch stops the oil begins to settle. The next time the watch runs, some of the moving parts will not be lubricated. This will affect the time keeping and will cut short the life of the watch movement.
